FILM AND STAGE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 21, 23 December 1938, Page 10

FILM AND STAGE

All Kinds of Stars. Presenting a dazzling array of stars and an variety of talent, “The Goldrvyn Follies” begins to-day at the State Theatre. It is a musical film in technicolour, and every field of entertainment was called on to jjrovide stars to augment the screen cast, headed l>y suave-Adolphe Menjou. the Kitz Bros., and the beautiful, rising young star. Andrea Leeds. From radio he took Edgar Bergen and Charlie, McCarthy, the latest comedy sensation of the ■world; Kenny Baker. Jack Benny’s silver-voiced romanticist; irrepressible Phil Baker and his accordion: from grand opera, lovely Helen J< pson and the sensational n-wromer. Charles Kullman ;‘ from the world of the dance, the beautiful Zorina and George Balanchine’s American 1 aliet

of the Metropolitan Opera; and from musical comedy goggle-eyed Bobby Clark to clown with petite Ella Logan. Then there are the famous Goldwyn Girls as well as Hollywood’s 12 loveliest tap dancers; Jerome Cowan, Nydia Westman, Frank Shields, and 100 more who fit into the pattern of one of Ben Hecht’s best stories.

Popular English Comedian. George Formby joins the Royal Air Force and happiness is here again—in fact, “It’s in the air.” Typically topical, the latest Formby film has as its background the Air Force where Formby finds himself “accidentally” in uniform, subjected to a liewildering discipline, and as usual, making a hopeless mess of everything. George Formby dons sky-blue with the mistaken idea of saving his sister’s airman sweetheart from exposure and almost succeeds in wrecking the camp with

Ms sublime clumsy ignorance, nearly giving the sergeant-major apoplexy, and becoming the butt for every practical person in the service. The fun reaches its height when “our hero does duty as a di-spatch rider, careering madi.V over the countryside on a motor-cycle combination with the local O.C. as his terrified passenger. Of course, from the minute he “joins up” audiences will be waiting for the inevitable sequence when Formby takes to the air. And when it does arrive everybody gets a generous money’s worth of riotous fun, because lie finds himself alone in the heavens aboard a ’plane about which he knows nothing, performing weird figures in the sky, looping the loop, swooping earthwards in hair-raising dives, loosing live bombs and a hail of machine-gun bullets. “It’s in the Air,” commences next Friday night at the 10.30 session at the Regent Theatre for one week.

Laugh-Provoking Sequences. Staging a dip into a pond in a motorcar requires histrionic determination on the part of the players involved, as well as a multiplicity of complications for studio engineers. Such was the thrill created for “Dangerous Number,” which opens a three day engagement to-day at the Meteor theatre, in -which Robert Young and Ann Sothern took the plunge for a comedy finish in which she discovers that her synthetic silk dress is soluble in water. The new picture is a comedy romance dealing with the marriage of a young business man to a vaudeville actress. They fail.to understand each other, there are countless comical quarrels, an odd marital mix-up hinging on California’s tlAce-day marriage license

law, and a comedy denouement in which the .husband gives the recalcitrant bride the soluble dress, drives her into the pool in a. purloined taxicab, and thus tames her rebellious spirit. Irresistible Lovers.

With George Raft as a satin-smooth lover, and Rosalind Russell as the glamorous girl who thought herself too ritzy for romance, the dynamic comedy' romance, “It Had to Happen,” comes on Tuesday to the Kosy Theatre. Adapted from an original story' by' Rupert Hughes, the new picture tells the story of a man who rose, from the slums to the top of the political heap for the love of an alluring lady, aud then threw away everything he had won for the same lady. Manhattan is the locale of this exciting and humorous drama. “It Had to Happen” features Leo Carillo at the head of a

strong supporting cast, which also includes Arlinc Judge and Alan Dinehart. -

The cast for “Captain Midnight” to date includes Brian Aherne, Victor McLaglen, Edward’ Arnold and Francine Bordeaux, new screen find. It is a dramatic adventure story of con vict trading in Australia around the period of 1840. Helen Parrish will be seen in the leading feminine romantic role with the Little Tough Guys “In Society,” now in production. Formerly a child player, Helen Parrish distinguished herself with her “meanie” portrayal in Deanna Durbin’s “Mad About Music.” She was then east in a grownup role in “Little Tough Guy.” Barbara Read has grown up too fast to play her original part in the sequel to “Three Smart Girls.” Helen Pairish takes her place in “Three Smart Girls Grow Up,” with Deanna Durbin and Nan Grey as before.

Newspaper Comedy-Drama. “Back in Circulation,” an engrossing newspaper comedy-drama, heads the new bill at the Kosy Theatre to-day, with Pat O’Brien and Joan Blondell in the leading roles. The plot of the story revolves around the death of a millionaire, discovered by a tabloid newspaper editor to have occurred in mysterious circumstances. Through the latter’s efforts " the widow (Margaret Lindsay) is brought to trial, and although she is convicted of murder her silence and demeanour convince the girl reporter (Joan Blondell) that she is innocent but ready to go to her death, shielding someone. With the aid of a physician (John Lite!) who is in love with the condemned woman, the reporter is enabled to gain an explantation, breaking through the widow’s screen of silence to prove the solution of the mystery.

The second feature, “Prairie Thunder,” starring Dick Koran, the singing cowboy, is Gm exciting melodrama of the days when hostile Indians tried to prevent the white man from linking coast to coast with his railroads and telegraph lines. Popular Elements. An entertaining mixture of spectacle, romance, comedy and music is the palatable fourfold attraction in “Breaking die Ice,” the Bobby Breen starring picture which comes next Friday to the State Theatre with four sessions, 2.5, 8, arid 10.30 p.m. The spectacle is provided by six-year-old Irene Dare, the world’s youngest figure skater; the romance by Dolores Costello; the comedy by'Charlie ■ Rugglcs and the music by Bobby Breen, who sings live hit numbers, three of them composed by Frank Churchill, who wrote the songs for “Snow White and the Seve.i Dwarfs.” In “Breaking the Ice” young Breen lias the most costly and ambitious picture of his career. In it ho becomes a new personality; a .likeable, yet tough ..child, who fights fate with a song on his lips and dynamite in his fists. Also screening with this film is the latest Walt Disney teclinicoloiir cartoon, “Good Scouts. ’ Ad venture-Romance. From the world’s great stories come the greatest motion pictures and “Kidnapped,” which Robert -Louis Stevenson considered his best, will commence screening at the Meteor Theatre on Tuesday. Warner Baxter portrays in all his swashbuckling, vigorous best, the never-to-be-forgotten Alan Breck, fugitive clansman of the highlands. And Freddie Bartholomew, a size or two larger than when he last appeared so brilliantly on the screen, gives a fine performance to the role of David Balfour, the boy hero of the piece. The film takes liberty with 'the original script in introducing a “heart interest ’ to the life of Alan Breck. But this reviewer is willing to concede that even Robert Louis Stevenson might Imve rewritten his story had he known Arleen Whalen. The story concerns Alan Breck’s. leading the clans in revolt against union of the North Country with George Ill’s domain. David Balfour is the lad with the unscupulous uncle who tries to keep the boy’s rightful estate by having him kidnapped and shipped to America. The lives of Alan Breck and David Balfour cross 'at the point where the girl, fiancee or a lesser rebel, falls in love with Breck. Star Becomes a Singer.

It is not enough that after playing only one screen role Richard Greene has already caused cardiac murmurs in the breasts of a million matinee enthusiasts. His recent “Four Men and a Prayer” part opposite Loretta Young proved the film newcomer to have a fine, resonant voice, easily adaptable to singing, and now lie is to become a singing star as well. Never having sung before (outside tfie coniines of shower curtains) Greene started training with the studio voice coaches, immediately upon the. completion of his first role. He lias two songs to 6ing to radiant Sonja- Henie in her latest picture, “My Lucky char, which comes to the State *lheatre on January 4 for an extended season. Greene is starred with Sonia Henie in the film which features Joan Davis, Cesar Romero and Buddy Ehsen. The songs include: “This May lie the night,” “Could You Pass in Love. “I’ve Got a Date with a Dream” and “By a Wishing Well.”

Many well-known stars of the stage and screen will be seen in forthcoming New York stage productions at the end of the year. Tullulah Bankhead, who has not been on the screen since “Devil and the Deep,” will appear with her husband, John Emery, in “I Am Different.” Frank Capra must lead the list or large-income directors. His new contract is said to be worth more than a million dollars. He will receive 100,000 dollars for each of three pictures, including “You Can’t Take It . With You,” which has been well received in America. . A new Betty Driver-Jimmy O Dea film, as yet untitled, is in production. Sonnie Hale has been cast in this film in the role of a Cockney talent scout, and other members of the cast include Milton llosmer, Basil Radford, a nti Garry Marsh. Joan Crawford will be starred in an original story written by Leonard Praskins, and which will have the famous Ice Follies, troupe providing a background. Camera work has already started at the studios on the ice ballet, sequences of “The Ice lollies. ’ The troupe of 54 expert skaters, who iccently completed a tour of America, is making its first motion picture appeaiance in the new film. The partnership of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy is an enduring fact and one very gratifying for their public. The studio, doubtless Influenced by the success of this distinguished partnership, is contemplating a rival combination jn Grace Moore and Nino Martini. As Miss Moore has shown on every screen occasion she, too, has a delightful gift ,for comedy, and Mr Martini' showed what he could do in “Gaiy Desperado” as an actor as well as a singer. . Asked by the New York Sun to list his “Ten Favourite Pictures,” Terry Ramsaye, editor of the Motion Picture Herald, who has been associated with the industry for twenty-five years and is the author of a two-volume history of the motion picture “A Million and One Nights,” named the following ton film!: “The Hurricane,” “Henry VIII,” “The House of Rothschild, ; “Cavalcade,” “Les Miserables,” “The 39 Steps.” “A Star is Born,” “The Informer,” “The Good Earth, -and “Un Carnet du Bal.” ! Its cast headed by Edmund Lowe, Helen Mack and Dick Foran, “West Side Miracle” is now in production. The film traces the career of a young boxer who is badly battered after meing “doped” in a mi toll, and is pulled through a fight for. his life by a beautiful ifurse. Later the young pugilist, although innocent, is sentenced to die for the murder of his lecherous exmanager. In his second dramatic fight for life, he is aided by the nurse and a high-powered criminal attorney. Making up a new romantic triangle are Foran, as the boxer, Miss Mack, the nurse, and Lowe, the lawyer.

Two-Fisted Love Story. 1 Theatre patrons who are weary of the talk in talkies and want action for their money, can get more than tlicir money’s worth in “The Crowd Roars,” one of the fastesLmoving, red-blooded pieces of entertainment ever to be printed on celluloid. The picture, which should do more for Robert Taylor’s popularity than any previous effort, will open to-night at the. 10.30 session at the Regent Theatre for one week. Taylor turns in the standout performance of his career as Tommy McCoy, who fights his way up from the wrong side of the tracks to a crack at the light-heavy weight championship. He not only looks the part to perfection, he gives it every ounce of energy and acting ability in his 174 pounds, ringside. As the father, Brian McCoy, dissolute ex-vaudeville “ham,” Frank Morgan combines his side-splitting comedy with a dramatic characterisation that rivals even his screen son’s work. Maureen O’Sullivan, teamed with Taylor in “A Yank at Oxiord,”

once more proves the ideal romantic interest, with competition in the person of blonde Jane Wyman. Entertaining Films. Clyde E. Elliott, who directed the sensational “Bring ’Em Back Alive” and “Devil Tiger” directed “Booloo,” a romance of the Malayan jungle, which comes next Wednesday to the Mayfair Theatre, with Colin Tapley, the New Zealand actor, in the leading role. To film the picture Elliott took his cast and technical crew ten thou sand miles to the jungles of the Malayan Peninsula. Harold Lloyd, the bespectacled comedian, returns to the screen after an absence of over two years in “Pro-

lessor Beware,’’ coming on Wednesday to the Mayfair Theatre as the second full-length feature. Lloyd plays the part of an absent minded professor whose ability to get into trouble provides the chief comedy in the new film.

Leopold Stokowski, who it is rumoured is married to Greta Garbo, is preparing to supply the background music for Walt Disney’s ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice'’ and ‘The Flight of the Bumble Bee.” Ho will conduct his famous Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra for this music. Mickey Mouse will be the appro atice. Ronald Colman, who usually keeps out of the public eye, will sail his own boat in the Los Angeles to San - Francisco yacht races sponsored by the northern city’s world fair.

Happiness Duo’s Feature. One of the liveliest and funniest bits of film entertainment, “Blockheads,” the new production starring the everpopular Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, commences to-night at the Mayfair Theatre at a gala 10.30 session. In this new comedy the comedians revert to their former formula —an. abundance of new gags, familiar mannerisms, and ludicrous situations. Their side-split-ting antics are not deterred by spectacular backgrounds or musical interludes. Stan Laurel is a front-page newspaper celebrity in “Blockheads, not through his own initiative but through one of the funniest introductions that the screen has reflected. Although he tells Hardy that he is not so. dumb as ho used to be, fortunately Ins actions belie his words. Hardy is the successful business man, taking vast pride in His swank apartment and in the housekeeping capabilities of his wile. The introduction of Stan Laurel.,

although lie is momentarily the nation’s hero, into these surroundings precipitates a inerry-go-round that spins dizzily until the final fade-out, which is a surprise finish. Passion for ’Planes.

Wallace Beery’s passion for aeroplanes gave the studio wardrobe department an extra job when it was discovered that between scenes of his new picture, “Port of Seven Seas,” which opens to-day at the Meteor Theatre, he had sketched a whole series of ’plane designs on the aprons he was supposed to wear in the next “take.” Playing the role of the owner of a Marseilles bar, Beerv was chatting with tlie director and Frank Mor-

gan while the set was being lighted. They were discussing newreels of air fleets which they had seen recently. As they talked, the star absent-minded-ly drew a whole fleet of ’planes not only on the apron ho was wearing but on a spare which the wardrobe department had provided in case of emergency. As he stood up for the next scene, the director immediately noticed the decoration. “Well, better put on the spare,” he said, resignedly. “I drew on it,” too,” admitted Beery shamefacedly.

Nancy Carroll, who has been off the screen for several years (she played in the first “Shopworn Angel” opposite Gary Cooper), is making her comeback in “There Goes My Heart,” with Fr'edric March.